Need help! Will be traveling to Laughlin, Nevada.... (rental, vacations, airline)

[Blue Grass Fever]

I need some help in getting a good airline fare for a round-trip ticket to Laughlin, NV from Michigan with a rental car to boot.

Should i fly into Phoenix or Las Vegas or any other airport that's perhaps closer to Laughlin or Bullhead City that may affect pricing?

Any tips and tricks while searching? Should i wait until a few days before the actual departure date to make a purchase on airline fare?

I have a bit of flexibility within a week time-frame and have until a month to purchase ticket fare and rental.

Any particular website to advise while searching for prices and rental?

Thanks in advance, any help is appreciated!

B.G.F.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by Blue Grass Fever

I need some help in getting a good airline fare for a round-trip ticket to Laughlin, NV from Michigan with a rental car to boot.

Should i fly into Phoenix or Las Vegas or any other airport that's perhaps closer to Laughlin or Bullhead City that may affect pricing?

Any tips and tricks while searching? Should i wait until a few days before the actual departure date to make a purchase on airline fare?

First, call a travel agent and see if there are any package deals to Laughlin. Often, that is the cheapest way to get DIRECTLY to Laughlin as flights to Bullhead City are generally expensive.

Second, flights to Las Vegas are generally a cheaper option. Flights on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday tend to be less expensive if your times are flexible. Allegiant Air offers some great deals from smaller airports.

Airfares to Las Vegas RARELY go down. Fins a fare you like and book it. If you are in Eastern Michigan, Detroit (DTW) will be your best deals; if in the western portion of the state, check out Chicago O'Hare or Midway as they have a lot of good fares. WHATEVER you do, book MORE than 14 days OUT; 21 days may be better.

Again, you can get some great deals off of travel agents through Funjet or Apple Vacations.

Generally, rental cars are cheaper in Las Vegas than in Laughlin. However, do remember that there are a lot of bus tours between Las Vegas and Laughlin that will allow you to skip the rental if you want.

[stacylee926]

Flying into Las Vegas is your best bet. If my memory serves me correctly, it was about 1 1/2 hrs to Laughlin and the last piece is mountain driving so try to do that in the daylight.

Phoenix is quite a bit further driving wise.

Do compare though. Last June we did a SW tour and I compared airfare and rental cars flying into Las Vegas and Phoenix. Airfare was cheaper to Las Vegas, but the rental car was higher and it was opposite in Phoenix. I chose the cheaper air fare because there were 4 of us.